


we were in screaming color

by Florchis



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Misgendering, Multi, Non-binary character, Nonbinary Character, Polyamory Negotiations, Pre-Relationship, Pride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florchis/pseuds/Florchis
Summary: A collection of drabbles for Pride 2020.Ch.8: 4 times Sye corrects someone on the team when they misgender her and one time she doesn’t need to
Relationships: Bobbi Morse/Yo Yo Rodriguez, Lance Hunter/Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie/Bobbi Morse, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Team
Comments: 69
Kudos: 139





	1. nb!Bobbi comes out to Hunter (Huntingbird) (T)

**Author's Note:**

> From a prompt: "NB!Bobbi coming out to someone + some Hunter feels".
> 
> Happy Pride everyone!

Hunter realized that something has been bothering Bobbi a couple of days back, but decided to let her chew over her feelings and let her come to him whenever she felt ready. But now that he is done with his second glass of wine while she hasn’t touched her first one yet, well, it’s obvious that the situation can not be avoided any longer.

It’s a clear night of June, one of the first warm nights of the year, and he uses the excuse of opening up one window to see if that elicits any reaction out of her, but Bobbi doesn’t even look up. In his way back from the window, he slides his arms around her neck from behind, and when he kisses just under her ear, she gets startled. 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

If they were younger, he might have gotten defensive over her yelp, have been upset that she was focused on something else while sharing a quiet evening with him. But they have had their fair share of ups and downs, and he likes to think that they found their way back together because they are better than before, not because they are cursed to make the same mistakes.

“I have been meaning to tell you something,” Bobbi begins in a perfectly measured voice and that makes the hairs’ on the nape of his neck stand on point. It’s her business voice, and business with her can either go really really well or really really bad.

“Shoot me, love.”

It takes her a few seconds to reinitiate the conversation and Hunter uses the time to release the hug and relocate by her side on the couch.

“It’s Pride-”

“Happy Pride!” He is not trying to be obnoxious, he really isn’t, but it is an automatic response he has and he is not even sure he wants to fight it. His father and his air force pals can all suck it and this is his (not) subtle way to keep himself aware of that. She more or less knows all of this, and luckily she doesn’t look annoyed because she is smiling softly at him if a bit shakily.

“Happy Pride to you too, Hunter.” Exhale, inhale. “Anyway, since it _is_ Pride, I have been thinking… that I don’t want to be your wife anymore.”

He blinks. It is like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room, like he goes through the motions but no air is reaching his lungs and he is walking in a tightrope to not fall into a full-fledged panic attack.

“You-you want to… get a divorce?” He very purposefully does not say _again._ He can only take so much.

“What?” Bobbi’s face is a rollercoaster of emotions, and she finally settles on horror. She reaches for him, her hands firm on his forearms. “No, no, that is not what I meant!”

He is not particularly cheesy (or at least he likes to think he isn’t) and he would never say that she hung the moon and the stars for him- but be the air he breathes? Definitely.

His face is sweaty and overheated, and he gulps down her glass of wine in an attempt to cool down. She kisses him in both cheeks and he keeps her tight against his chest and tries to listen to the beating of her heart to calm down his own wild one.

“Damn, Bob. What did you mean, then?”

She is being uncharacteristically hesitant with this whole business, and though it bothers him a little, she already almost gave him a heart attack, what is the worst that could happen? She feels a bit tense, and Hunter starts stroking her hair to calm them both down. 

“You know I have never been big on being, um, feminine. Good at it, yes, keen on it, no. The whole Barbara thing, you know.” After a stretch of silence, he nods to get her to keep going. “And it’s not that one can’t be a non-feminine woman, because I am not trying to set feminism half a century back, but… I started considering that maybe I am not, you know, a non-feminine woman. Maybe I am not a woman at all.”

His first reaction is to try to not react at all, to be a neutral vessel for her to pour her heart out. But it takes him one second to realize that he could never be neutral when it comes to her, that this is the person he loves the most in the world and she is shaking against his chest while she makes a confession that could be life-changing. He tightens his arms around her and places his cheek against her hair. _I am here_ , he is trying to tell her. _I will always be here for as long as you let me._

Instead, he says, “Okay. Want to tell me more?”

“I have done some research on, um, different gender identities. Reading people’s experiences online. I don’t know exactly which one fits me best yet, but I for sure know that the binary and being thrown into one end for something as arbitrary as your genitals definitely suck.”

Hunter can’t help laughing. It’s such a Bobbi way to react: when she doesn’t like the game it’s not good enough to walk away, she needs to also flip the table. Not that he doesn’t believe this particular table deserves to be flipped, but it’s still endearing.

“Okay.” He feels a bit dumb saying that again, but it’s not like he feels he has much more to contribute to the discussion. “Is there any way I can help you? Anything I can do?” He remembers how she decided to introduce the topic, and an idea pops in his mind. “Oh, would you like to change pronouns, maybe? Or is that too assuming-”

Bobbi pulls him into a kiss and his anxiety promptly turns into affection. When they break apart, Bobbi is beaming at him. 

“Do you think we could try them/their? Just at home, between us. To see how it feels.”

It’s almost unfair how little work she, ahem, _they_ are asking of him, and how happy the prospect seems to make them. 

“Of course, love.”

It probably won’t go without hitches, but nobody will ever be able to accuse Lance Hunter of not trying enough for the people he loves. 


	2. "I think I'm in love with him and I'm terrified!” (Pre-FSK)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma has a breakdown over her feelings for Fitz and Daisy helps her get through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt: "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified!"+ trans fitz + fsk

It takes two drinks for Jemma to start crying. At first, Daisy takes it lightly, asks Hunter to take Fitz to the dance floor- it’s Fitz’s big night and she doesn’t want to take any excitement away from him-, but when the tears don’t subdue after a paper napkin and thirty seconds of hair stroking, she realizes that stronger measures need to be taken.

Jemma cries all the way to the bathroom, and it breaks Daisy’s heart to see her girlfriend like that. It’s also unfair- Jemma had been so happy about Fitz’s finally getting his new ID, she was fundamental on the journey they have traveled together the last couple of years, she deserves to be a part of the pay-off too. Instead, the fluorescent lights in the bathroom make her cheeks plowed by tears look ashy and Daisy wants to kiss the color back into them.

But first, she needs to find out what is going on with Jemma- and fast, if they don’t want Fitz awkwardly knocking on the bathroom door to see what is going on the moment he realizes they are gone.

“Hey, babe, what is wrong?” Instead of replying, Jemma starts crying harder and Daisy pulls her against her chest. “Shhh. It’s okay. I am here.”

“I am such a moron!” Jemma sobs while grabbing handfuls of Daisy’s dress, and Daisy can’t help but feel a little baffled.

“Um, okay, but wh-?”

"I think I'm in love with him and I'm terrified!”

She could almost laugh out of relief, but she is happy that she doesn’t.

“Jem, love, I already knew that, there is no need to cry over it, okay?” Jemma shakes her head violently, and Daisy gently pushes her at arm length to see her face. “Babe, I think you are a bit drunk. Do you want to calm down or do you want me to ask Bobbi to take you home?”

Narrowing down a world of possibilities to only two usually works when Jemma is overwhelmed- she has told Daisy before that sometimes her brain works too fast and the rest of her can’t really catch up. The distance allows them to make eye-contact, and Daisy takes one exaggerated deep breath after the other until Jemma starts mirroring her. 

Once her breathing regularizes, Daisy smiles at her and squeezes her hands.

“I think calming down it was. Now, leaving or talking?”

Jemma makes an adorable pout and Daisy can’t help but lean closer to kiss it.

“I don’t want to leave. It’s an important night for Fitz!”

“Okay, I agree. Want to talk, then?”

Instead of replying, Jemma breaks apart from her and splashes her face with cold water. It completely ruins her makeup, but Daisy is cheesy enough to fully believe that she likes her best with a natural look anyway. The water fulfills its purpose and when Jemma looks back at Daisy, her eyes are more focused and clear.

“What there is to talk about? I have already told you that I was falling for him, and you already told me you were okay with that.”

Daisy rummages through her purse and hands her a tissue and her red lipstick.

“And yet you broke down on me about it like five minutes ago.” 

Jemma has the good taste to at least look sheepish about that. “It has been… growing, lately. And I want to tell him, but at the same time, I don’t want him to get mixed up what I did to help him because I care about him with the… attraction, you know? I want to tell him, but I want to do it in a moment that is fair to him, and it feels like that moment will never come, and tonight was… too much.”

“He sure looks particularly handsome tonight,” Daisy concedes. “That leather jacket Hunter put him on really suits him.”

Jemma shrugs. “I still prefer him in cardigans.”

There is no way to reply to that but with a kiss, and Daisy complies. There are worse things that could be happening to her than having to convince her girlfriend to confess to her boyfriend, and she wouldn’t change this for the world.

“He is stronger than we all give him credit for, though. He has been through a lot and there you have him, smiling and being better than anyone who wished him ill.” Jemma is biting her lip, and Daisy wipes the excessive lipstick from her chin. “My advice is to tell him. The moment will never be completely right, and we already know he is full of surprises.”

Before Jemma can reply, the door to the bathroom opens and Bobbi’s head pops inside.

“Hey, girls. Fitz is asking for you two. He is refusing to allow Hunter to start a new round of shots without you and,” she rolls her eyes, “you know how Hunter is about his shots. Are you coming?”

Daisy looks at Jemma- she looks very pale under these lights without makeup but she is smiling, and that is all that matters. She takes her hand and Jemma squeezes it two times.

“We wouldn’t miss it for anything.” 


	3. Skye comes out to May (Skye&May)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May walks in her foster daughter making out with a girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From a prompt: "bi daisy coming out to may". This takes place in the _[Pour your love on me](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1212381)_  
>  universe, but you only need to know that is a non-SHIELD AU where May is Skye's foster mother.

It’s not that Melinda thought taking in a fifteen-year-old with a long history of abandonment issues was going to be easy. She knew that there were going to be rough patches and she was more than willing to put in the hard work needed. But despite how well prepared she thought she was for the task, Skye never ceases to surprise her.

Like right now, when May opens the door of her home an hour early than usual to find her foster daughter sitting in the lap of a very enthusiastic blonde who has her hands under the back of Skye’s t-shirt. May is shocked but discreet enough to believe that the smartest course of action will probably be to quietly sneak outside again, go for a long drive around town, announce her upcoming arrival with a text message, some “accidental” honking of her horn after parking and some loud throat-clearing before entering for good measure. And also bring some of Skye’s favorite donuts. They will be sorely needed for the talk about boundaries they will need to have afterward. But before she can execute the carefully crafted plan, the house door closes at her back with a click so loud that Melinda grimaces.

And then all hell breaks loose.

The blonde sees her first and hastens to stand up. Melinda takes a step to the side to allow her to flee through the door. She almost tells her that one corner of her blouse is caught in her bra, but she figures that the poor girl has already gotten enough embarrassment out of this situation to last her a decade. Skye has fallen on the couch on her side after her partner’s hurried retreat, and Melinda toughens up because she knows she has landed both of them in a less than ideal situation.

Unsurprisingly, Skye makes eye-contact for two intense seconds, but before Melinda can make any kind of gesture or say anything, she stands up and runs to her room. May sighs while she takes off her shoes. Not the best reaction but not the worse either. She puts on the kettle, makes herself a pot of tea and drinks a cup, leaving two more done for later for her and Skye. That entertained her, she believes, for long enough for Skye to get over the initial embarrassment and be ready for the damage control talk. 

Skye doesn’t answer when Melinda knocks on her door, nor when she asks if she can come inside. May tries the handle and the door is not locked. She believes that privacy and ownership of space are key in a teenager’s growth, but trust and controlled discussions of boundaries can not be left in the backburner either.

“I am coming in,” she announces before opening the door.

Skye’s room is a mess. Now, that is not something out of the ordinary as Skye is not particularly a tidy person, but she always seems to know her way around her chaos, and as long as it is all kept clean, May has let her use her own space as she pleased. But now there are hangers on the floor, her school books are also all on the floor but her personal ones are nowhere to be seen, her laptop is sitting precariously on top of her pillow, the door to her private bathroom is open and the light is on and most importantly, there is her old, battered suitcase open on top of the bed, with clothes thrown haphazardly inside.

May blinks once, twice, and before she can wrap her head around what is going on, Skye comes out of the bathroom carrying her favorite towels and yelps in surprise at seeing her there, letting everything fall to the floor.

“Skye, what are you doing?”

After the question, Skye raises her head and stops getting together the towels, leaving one on the floor. She stands up and though it pains May to leave a perfectly clean towel on the floor, there are way more important things for her to focus on now.

“You are right, I am sorry.” Skye is biting her lip and her eyes are bloated like she just stopped crying. Maybe giving her that much time was the wrong call? “I shouldn’t have assumed you’d let me take this stuff. You bought it all and it’s not mine.”

May bends over to pick the Captain Marvel towel and takes it back to the bathroom cabinet, mostly to buy herself extra seconds to bite down her own tears. Of course, this girl forged in rejection and loneliness thinks that her first reaction to seeing her kissing a girl is to kick her out. She tries to not take it personally- it would be too much to ask that the eight months Skye has been with her had healed the wounds of fifteen years-, but it still hurts to think that she was naive enough to think that they would just have an uncomfortable sex talk and everything else would be just peachy. 

Skye is moving anxiously her weight from one foot to the other when she returns, and May makes a gesture for her to sit on the bed. Once Skye complies, May moves the suitcase to the floor to sit by her side.

“Skye, everything I have bought for you is yours. I won’t take away anything without a good reason, and you haven’t given me any so far.” That was the easy part to say, and still, Skye’s eyes are already welling up. “Anyhow, you don’t need to worry about taking anything with you because I am not kicking you out.”

That is the moment Skye breaks down on her, tears falling on already tender cheeks, and May hugs her as tight as she dares. She feels like a fool for letting her daughter go into a panic frenzy for half an hour instead of immediately reassuring her. She might be far from being the worst parent figure Skye ever had, but that doesn’t mean she is exempted from making mistakes. She still has a long road of learning ahead of her.

Skye is always so vivacious and daring that it’s easy to forget how small and young she actually is. May knows for herself that being petite is in no way a sign of weakness, but her heart still clenches at feeling Skye’s frail collarbones in between her arms.

She strokes her hair until Skye stops crying, and even after that May keeps her close until Skye finally pushes her gently apart to go wash her face.

“So you like girls,” she is playing it cooler than she actually feels, but wants to reassure Skye that this is in no way a dealbreaker and that she will always be willing to try.

“Um, yeah.” Skye comes out of the bathroom drying her face with the infamous Captain Marvel towel. She looks younger like this, puffy face and hair down to her shoulders, biting her lip with a sheepish look in her eyes, and Melinda can’t believe she found her making out with a girl, not because it was a girl but because Skye is a _baby_. “Not only girls, though.”

“Oh.”

“I am bi.” Her voice begins strong, but she deflates into a ball of anxiety quickly. “Is that, um, okay?”

Instead of replying, May stands up and goes to hug her again. Man, it’s like every hug she didn’t give in her life had been saved to be used with Skye. “Thank you for telling me. You don’t have to be scared of who you are around me.”

For the first time this evening, Skye reciprocates the hug and May feels her soul entering her body again.

"Sorry for freaking out. But every time a family found out something about me that was uncomfortable for them, they kicked me out."

May has read her file and has been getting tidbits here and there from Skye herself, but her blood still boils. If only she could confront all those people… To calm down, she reminds herself that healing is one of the better ways to fight for a better world.

“Well, not this time. I am here for the long run.” She gives Skye a kiss on the forehead and smiles to try to lighten up the mood “Though we will need to have a more serious conversation about bringing dates home.”


	4. FSK + domestic (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz paints the nursery, Simmons bakes cookies and Daisy can't complain about her life, but she will complain anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the prompt: "-future fsk domestic fluff? Like, fixing up a house together, or the mundane division of chores, or sending Anthony off to his first day of school, any of that!"

“It’s so unfair you two are getting to have all the fun,” Daisy pouts before shoving a cracker inside her mouth. It’s terrifying the number of salty cravings she has been getting lately.

Fitz descends from the ladder wiping the sweat from his brow, and Daisy would tell him to mind the green paint that is still dripping from his roller, except that the floor is fully covered and it would be hilarious for him to get yet another swipe of paint on his face.

“Dar-ling, explain to me again how grueling physical activity qualifies as ‘getting to have all the fun’?”

Daisy gives him an open-mouthed grin- she knows she has crumbs around the corners of her mouth, and the fact that she doesn’t care that he sees her like this is just another proof of how terrible the development of their relationship has been… or how great- before tilting her face to the side and yelling, “Jemma, Fitz is complaining again!”

He shakes the roller at her in retaliation, but she chose her clothes wisely this morning as items she doesn’t mind getting messed up and she is not afraid of him. 

Jemma pops her head inside after a second, ponytail in clear disarray and a frown on her face, and Daisy loves her so much that her heart is on the brim of bursting (unrelated to the fact that she came to scold Fitz for her, of course).

“A bit of exercise every once in a while won’t kill you, Fitz,” she points out, and Fitz shakes his head while he moves his mouth in a mock imitation of her. Daisy is hard-pressed to not laugh at him looking so ridiculous. Realizing that the reprimand is not working on him, Jemma changes tactics quickly. “Don't you want to get buff for your wives?”

Fitz scoffs at her. “Jemma, we all know I am not the buff one in this relationship.”

They have always been weirdly in synch, and this time it’s not the exception: they both turn to look at her and make heart eyes at her at the same second. Really, she couldn’t even imagine any way she could be luckier than she is. So, of course, that means she got the perfect opportunity to pull their legs. 

She crumbles the cracker package in her fist and arches her back to make the baby bump more prominent for good measure before pouting at him, “Fitz, are you calling me fat?”

Daisy can’t keep the facade for longer than a handful of seconds, but it’s long enough for Jemma to start laughing maniacally and for Fitz to drop to his knees in front of her, completely oblivious to the fact that he is now also dirtying the knees of his pants with green paint. 

“That’s not what I meant!”

The panicked look in his blue eyes is earnest enough for Daisy to take pity on him and she pokes him on the nose.

“Then don’t mock our wife and finish the first coat of paint so we can go enjoy her cookies.” He gives her a salute before going back to his feet, and Daisy waits till Jemma is almost out of earshot to suggest, “Or we could finish faster if you let me do something for a change! I am pregnant, not in my death bed!”

They both turn around on their heels and, honestly, freakishly in-synch.

_ “No.” _

“Was worth a try, though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fills the "That'snot what I meant" square in my [Marvel Polyship Bingo Card.](https://florchis.tumblr.com/post/189650837251/currently-taking-prompts-for-this-just-remember)  
> 


	5. Maydaysy + parade (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May and Daisy's first pride together

It’s their first Pride together, and it’s different than what Daisy had imagined it could be, but that is okay. 

She has had her own handful of crazy Prides in her late teens/early twenties, and as much as she misses being out there- with her flag as a cape, waving and sending air kisses to everyone, singing at the top of her lungs with every string of music passing her by- she wouldn’t change this moment for anything.

May has a degree in schooling her factions into a neutral face, but Daisy knows her well enough to see the spark of excitement shining in her eyes, and even the small curve of sadness in her mouth. It was rough when the doctor told them that May needed to be kept off her feet as much as possible after a mission gone awry; Daisy had been making plans for their first Pride together for quite a while, and this was like an ice-cold bucket thrown on her head. It took a lot of convincing to assure her girlfriend that Daisy would get  _ very  _ mad if she found out May wasn’t following the doctor’s recommendations. Not that she hasn’t disregarded medical advice herself, often and carelessly, but things gain different importance when they aren’t about yourself but about someone you love, Daisy has learned.

They have reached a compromise: Daisy got hold of an apartment with a low balcony that has a privileged view of the Pride parade and has organized their own little picnic for them to enjoy while they sit and watch, colorful makeup included.

There is something of an uneasy feeling in the pit of Daisy’s stomach still, something about being an observer and not a willful participant in an important part of her identity. But May is sitting by her side, a tiny smile forming on her mouth while certain music or chants pass them by, holding her hand, and oh. Okay. It takes Daisy two seconds to remember why they are doing this, and while she can dream of more, easier Prides for them to spend together, May is here and they have each other, and that is everything Daisy really needs. 


	6. Mackhuntingbird + first pride (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mack, Hunter and Bobbi go to Pride for the first time after "realizing" they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt: "Mackhuntingbird going to pride together". 
> 
> This is a sort of homage to [lazyfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazyfish/pseuds/lazyfish)'s [is it chill that you're in my head? ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669817)

The ace band is a bit tight on Mack’s wrist and Hunter pouts. He worked so hard to make this event perfect for them, since it’s their first pride since they come to terms that they are all on the same page and just weren’t communicating it clearly. It’s unfair that after all the thoughtful consideration of what was the best merch for them to show off, he miscalculated how buff and big and- he is actually gonna stop there because he is making himself  _ thirsty _ \- his boyfriend actually is.

“We can do something else for you if it’s uncomfortable!” he shouts at Mack, trying to be heard above the music. “I brought all of Bobbi’s eyeshadows for an emergency face-paint!"

Bobbi turns sharply on her heels, her _ Binaries are for computers  _ black t-shirt making her look taller, slimmer, and more dangerous than usual, which is saying something.

“You did  _ not  _ bring my very expensive eyeshadows to play around, Hunter!”

His own retort launches them into a string of bickering back and forth, but Hunter doesn’t miss that, while Mack rolls his eyes at them, he also keeps a protective hand over his band through the whole argument. The discussion comes to a halt when someone yells at Bobbi  _ I love your t-shirt! _ and she stops her absolute evisceration of Hunter to smile like the sun and wave back at the person.

Hunter takes advantage of her distraction to slip his hand in between Mack’s- he lets go of the band to hold his hand, and Hunter beams at him despite still feeling frustrated at his mistake.

“I am keeping it,” Mack says in a tone so serious and low that Hunter almost doesn’t hear him in between all the rumble and excitement that surrounds them. “You got it for me and I love it.” The intensity in Mack’s eyes tells him that  _ I love it  _ also means  _ I love you  _ and despite having heard it multiple times by now, Hunter still doesn’t get tired of all the many new ways they can say it to each other. To Bobbi. To the micro-cosmos that comes into existence when the three of them are together. Overwhelmed by the love blossoming on his chest, he supposes there is no better place to kiss his boyfriend that in the middle of Pride. So he does. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fills the "First time" square in my [Marvel Polyship Bingo Card.](https://florchis.tumblr.com/post/189650837251/currently-taking-prompts-for-this-just-remember)  
> I'm accepting prompts for it on[ my Tumblr](http://florchis.tumblr.com/ask) or here!


	7. Mockingshot (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobbi thinks they made a mistake. Elena thinks she should get back into painting to treasure this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For a prompt: "Would you reconsider if I was sober?+ mockingshot?"

It’s difficult to focus on anything when Bobbi Morse is naked by her side. Actually, it’s difficult to focus on anything when Bobbi Morse is by her side, period. Adding nudity to the equation is only like playing life in Hard.

Elena follows the movement of her spine with her eyes, the way it folds when she puts on her pants, the way it bends to one side and then the other while she puts on her blouse. She wishes she still had time for painting in order to hold this moment forever preserved in oil. Or charcoal, maybe. The lines of Bobbi’s body deserve the sharpness of black and white.

It’s difficult to focus on anything when Bobbi Morse is by her side, that’s true, but Elena knows she is only delaying the moment she knows is coming: the apologies, the regrets, the goodbyes. Why can’t life be as easy as knowing that the planes of Bobbi’s shoulder blades delimit a new state of reality?

“Yo-yo,” she begins, and Elena sighs. She enjoys the way Bobbi pronounces it, with a hard _y_ sound that comes from a Spanish learned long ago. She says her name in a way that nobody else does, riding in between her native English and a Spanish that is not Elena’s. But the fact that she likes the way Bobby says it doesn’t make it any less of an evasion tactic: calling her by a nickname that is intimate but it’s also general. Yo-yo is not a nickname that Bobbi gave her herself, and when the moment calls for sincerity, Elena prefers her own Christian name. “I am sorry.”

“What for?” She doesn’t raise her eyes from the sheet that is pooling on her lap. She is beginning to feel cold, being half-naked in the sharp air conditioner of the base while Bobbi is already fully dressed, but she refuses to show anything that could be interpreted as her own kind of remorse.

“For taking advantage of you.” Bobbi’s voice is measured, dispassionate like she is trying to explain a simple concept to a small child, and Elena would throw a tantrum about it if it weren’t that it would completely disprove her point.

Instead, she straightens her back- she can’t help a surge of pride when Bobbi’s eyes deviate from a moment to follow the movement of her chest- and plays the last card she was holding close to the chest, “Would you reconsider if I tell you I was sober?”

“You drank half a bottle by yourself.” Again, completely toneless. Elena wonders if that is the kind of thing they teach them in Spy School or whatever it was called.

“Inhuman metabolism, remember?” She taps her temple with her finger. “It’s not only my legs that go fast.”

“Shit.” This time is completely emotional, like a word that is being ripped from the very inside of Bobbi’s guts. “That changes everything.”

The mattress dips under her weight and Elena sees her hands before seeing her face, follows them with her eyes all the way to her neck. Closes her eyes but still imagines the contrast of Bobbi’s blonde hair against her skin, feels the perfect mold of their lips against each other. 

Yes, maybe she should get back into painting.


	8. nb!Skye (S1, Skye&team)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4 times Sye corrects someone on the team when they misgender her and one time she doesn’t need to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From a tumblr prompt that wanted "S1 Skye in full queer vibe". I don't know if this truly fills that prompt, but this was interesting to write!
> 
> Fair warnings:  
> * The full fic is about the Team misgendering Skye- it irks her but she treats it with patience and coolness. If this is triggering to you, I recommend you take a step back from this story.  
> * The fic is set in a very vague early S1, and therefore contains Ward in a not-terrible light, similar to canon at that point.  
> * It is also worth mentioning that I am a cis woman and therefore try to treat these experiences with care and respect, but they are not mine and might not be perfect.

The first one is May.

“Phil, you can’t be _serious_ about taking this girl with us.” 

It’s a hushed comment but said loud enough so she can hear it. Skye knows enough about these people already to know that if this very scary woman wanted to say something in secret, she could very well do it, which means this was meant to be heard by her. She doesn’t know what would be the point except to irk her, but alas, mission accomplished.

“Not a girl,” she grumbles in spite of her best efforts, in spite of how equal parts terrifying and amazing she finds this agent. She had not brought this small issue to attention yet, because when trying to infiltrate the enemy wanting them to respect your gender identity should be the last thing in your mind, and yet.

The woman gives him a look that feels like it can scan her down to her bones, and nods once, curt, before taking away her eyes and back to Agent Coulson, who apparently hasn’t heard their exchange. Only when she looks away can Skye breathe again.

“Phil, you can’t be serious about taking this person with us.”

It’s, easily, the simplest exchange of these characteristics Skye ever had, even with people within the community, even with people that were supposed to get her better and faster. 

* * *

Worth of a footnote: May is the only one that never slips again after being called out the first time.

* * *

The second one is Fitz.

After the mission in Peru Skye has taken to working in the lab alongside Fitzsimmons. It’s easy company and they don’t mind her tagging along, despite being weirdly attached at the hips themselves. After a life long of being misplaced and rejected, a space where she is received with openness and smiles calls her down to her very bones.

“I am glad you have joined the team,” Fitz tells her softly one afternoon after Simmons has left to get the water started on a round of tea/coffee for everyone.

Skye raises her eyes from her computer, looks at him with interest. Fitz has not made any attempt to hide the fact that he is interested in her, and Skye hasn’t done anything to discourage those shy advances. He is cute, in a sort of geeky way, and she likes him, even though she can not let herself be distracted from her bigger goals.

“Is that so,” she ribs him goodnaturedly. “Were you getting bored of Simmons already?”

“No!” He rushes to reply, a bit outraged, and Skye smiles. His devotion to his partner is responsible of a good chunk of what makes him sweet in her eyes. “But you are smart, and funny too. I like you.” She coos at him, and he turns beet red; she imagines if she were to touch the tips of his ears, they would be burning. Still, he has enough backbone to hold her eyes and fire back at her. “It doesn’t hurt that you are a pretty girl, either.”

She could let it go, take his compliment as it comes and move on. But she genuinely likes him, besides whatever her intentions within S.H.I.E.L.D. are, and she’d rather settle this sooner than later with him. 

“Actually, I am nonbinary, so not a girl.”

“Oh.” His face doesn’t drop, the way she has seen many men that have pursued her in the past do. His eyes change, but there is something she doesn’t quite understand in them. “Sorry for assuming.” 

“Not a big deal. I have been able to tell which one of you is Simmons and which one is Fitz for two hot seconds, so don’t be too bothered about it,” she tries to reassure him, and by the next minute they are already joking like nothing at all have happened.

* * *

Of course, it would have been naive of her to expect Fitz to not tell Simmons, especially since she never implied it was something to keep under wraps.

So when Simmons tackles her the next morning and asks her about her pronouns- the first one among them that does it-, Skye can’t help smiling while she tells Simmons that she actually doesn’t have a preference.

They are good cookies, those two.

* * *

The third one is Ward, but she snaps at him only after the third time he gets under her skin with it.

They have been sparring for a while, long enough that Skye’s muscles had started screaming at her to lay off, and though sometimes Ward’s persistence has pushed her into territories she never thought she could reach, some other times he also needs to know that her limits are not his, and that is okay. He has this nasty habit of treating her perceived femininity as a weakness when confronted with this roadblocks, and Skye might not recognize herself as a woman, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t throw her for a nasty loop when he throws at her a remark about how she needs to train harder if she wants to ever be treated seriously as a female agent.

In a way, he is stating something of a fact, but that doesn’t stop Skye from fake-leaning all her strength into a right hook that barely graces his chin. While he is distracted avoiding the hit at his face, she sweeps his legs in a move she copied from May and for the first time in long and hard weeks of training, she manages to get him to lose his footing.

She feels vindicated when he looks at her with a strange mix of pride and anger in his eyes and she can throw in his face her retort, “Never will be a female agent. But I learned this from one, so I wouldn’t be so quick to discredit them.”

* * *

He keeps on slipping and gets frustrated each time Skye corrects him. She is not entirely sure if his anger is directed towards himself or her, but that is his hill to lie on. She has learned during both life and training to never relent, and she is not going to make an exception for him.

* * *

The fourth one is Coulson.

She has let it slide many times before because the man has been through enough and has been so nice to her that correcting him had felt like an affront. But their relationship has grown and with that has also grown Skye’s desire for him to acknowledge who she really is.

So the next time he smiles at her after she managed a near-impossible hack that gives them a definite edge on a mission and tells her _good girl_ , she can not stop herself from correcting him, “Can we change it to _good person_ or _good kid_ or whatever non-gendered thing next time?”

Coulson takes a deep breath and Skye can totally imagine him facepalming himself.

“Right, sorry. May told me, but I keep messing it up. I’ll do better.”

Skye nods.

“I know you will. You always do.”

* * *

He is the one that keeps messing it up the most, even more than Ward, but he is genuinely trying, and Skye can not hold that over his head.

* * *

The first Pride after she joins the team, melancholy hits her. There are a million things in her life that had changed for the better, but there are some others from her past life that she will always miss. Having the free time and freedom to join parades and protests and just plain old meetings is one of them.

She is thinking about that when Simmons and Fitz knock at her door on the fifth of June and that’s why she doesn’t get up from her reminiscent position on her bed and instead tells them to come in. She side-eyes them and Simmons is bouncing on her toes while Fitz is twisting his hands around. They are onto something alright. and they are excited enough to spark some interest in her.

“What’s up, guys? Did you finally solve global warming or something?”

That actually dims Fitz’s smile a bit, and Skye feels bad for him, but before she can say anything, Simmons takes a step closer to her and thrusts a gift bag on her hands.

“We bought you something!”

Skye looks down at the bag she is now holding, perplexed.

“What? You were in restocking duty? Why didn’t you tell me? Man, you know I love to go out!”

Fitz scratches his temple nervously and at least he stopped wringing his poor fingers.

“Um, we wanted to surprise you with this.”

“The whole team pitched in!” Simmons remarks excitedly, and Skye loves that nothing can tamper with her enthusiasm.

Skye peaks inside the bag and takes out a soft cotton purple t-shirt with an inscription in black: _Binaries are for computers._

“We know we, um, mess it up sometimes,” Fitz begins and Simmons picks up his sentence in the middle seamlessly, as usual. “But we respect you and love you, and we wanted you to know that.”

There is no way she is going to cry, no over _these two nerds_ bringing her a gift, but it’s a damn near thing. Instead, she puts the t-shirt on top of the one she is currently wearing and takes advantage of the second her head is hidden to pull herself together. When her head emerges again, she is again full of teasing smiles and affectionate comebacks.

“Show me what else you got. I don’t buy that Fitz didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to drown us all in sweets.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I am [taking Pride prompts](https://florchis.tumblr.com/ask) for drabbles or moodboards!  
> **  
> This story is part of LLF Comment Project, whose goal is to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites:
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